Samstag, 24. März 2018

Visit
at the Browar Złoty Pies (Polish for Golden Dog Brewery) was on my list
for a long time. As some other posts, it suffered from the speed of life and
tendency not to look back too much.

But
I still think that it is worth taking the time.

When visiting Wroclaw for a second time, I have found that getting good craft beer next to the city center is still not obvious. Luckily there was the Złoty Pies /Golden Dog.

Located next to the market square in a renovated old house, called Under the Golden Dog, this place is a must see for all beer geeks. Looking back, I have seen many wonderful places when visiting Wroclaw, but Golden Dog is still the one I memorize very well.

First of all – I simply love this style of the interior. The combination of brick, wood and copper brew gear is astonishing and I have never had enough yet. Steampunk pure. If you are a fan, you will be amazed. You may complain that many restaurant brewers look similar. Maybe, I still love it and never have enough.

Third reason I still remember the brewery, is the beer. I was surprised to see that they not only brew typical restaurant beers – light, dark and weizen. They dared to go beyond. Btw. all beers are named according to the dog races, therefore Golden means Golden Retriever.

Pit Bull IPA – dry hopped with New Zeeland hops was. Is surprisingly good for a restaurant beer. Very aromatic and very bitter for a restaurant beer (60 IBU). Pleasant surprise and worth trying.

Boxer Lager was simply OK. I personally don’t like this style; therefore, I will just say that I haven’t noticed any major mistakes and it is very drinkable.

But the clear highlight is their Golden Weizen. Winner of a craft beer competition in Poland, but also Gold Medal on the World Beer Awards 2016. And the beer is very good. Looking on the rating at the Ratebeer, you tend to underestimate it. But it has an impressive aroma of bananas and cloves. Fresh, bit lemony in taste. Well balanced, fresh and drinkable. Not sure what more I would like to get from the Weizen. Just perfect.

My summary is clear – a must for anybody visiting Wrclw at any time of the year.

Freitag, 16. März 2018

When traveling for business, I do not always
have time to go to the best beer places suggested by my colleagues and online
guides. That was exactly the case in Verona. The only brewery was at least 40
minutes away, the bottle shop was closed and the bar was far and open only in
the evening.

Looks difficult.

Luckily, there somewhere I have found the
Osteria La Mandorla as a destination. Very luckily. It is located maybe 2 minutes’
walk from the Arena of Verona, 3 minutes from my hotel and it is opened until late
night.

The online description was encouraging – they are
the wine bar, but would have 4 Italian craft beers on the tap.

Even if the description is not perfect (see
below) I am still glad that it was there. Look at the photographs. It is not
necessary a place where a tourist would step in, on top craft beers are very
well hidden. The tap is covered by the bar. Neither the information on the
microbrewery nor the tap are visible from the street. They also have a small
fridge filled with various Italian and British craft beers – that one is even
better hidden. If not the owner, I would never find it.

Given the overall great atmosphere and a
climate of local bar I liked the place a lot, however, I would appreciate a bit
of info visible from the outside.

One thing that is clear – that place won a lot
of awards for Osteria (see photo).

All together – my tip for craft beer lovers
visiting Verona.

Now
the beer – it is important to mention that these guys own a microbrewery http://www.masoalto.com/), so
2 beers we could try – an IPA and golden ale were their own productions. This
makes the place even more amazing to me.

If you need more - at the time I have visited,
all guys at the bar spoke English.

Below, the beers you can get now

Maso Alto Selvatica

IPA

From the tap. Aroma is not the strongest here.
Delicate tropical fruits, grass and some malt. But the valanced flavor of malt
and hops with some decent bitter aftertaste beat the shit out of me. There is
not too much to complain here, the whole thing is just drinkable. Just go for
it!

Maso Alto Interpida

Golden Ale del Trentino

I was positively surprised ow much can bergamot
and orange peel bring to the style Fresh, aromatic, earl grey like. At the same
time light and multifaceted. Very good beer.

Freitag, 23. Februar 2018

Ice
distilled IPA blind test.

To
celebrate first 500 followers on Instagram, I have decided to finalize the first
blind test ever.

Very
unique beer style – Ice Distilled IPA – to keep the long story short – take a
good IPA and start freezing it. Water freezes faster than alcohol. Therefore,
you can separate both phases easily. The trick is to not lose too much taste of
beer in the process. At least in Europe, not many breweries decide to try, but
I have managed to get 3 candidates:

From Poland:

Spółdzielczy Lodołamacz (www.browarspoldzielczy.com). Ice
distilled Imperial IPA. 11% of alcohol. Spółdzielczy belongs to my favorite
breweries and I hope that they have done a good job here.

From
the Netherlands:

Uiltje
Old Enough to Drink (www.uiltjecraftbeer.com
). Scary 21% of alcohol. Considered by me one of the best IPAs I have ever had.

Of
course, I am aware that Lodołamacz alcohol content puts it in the different
league than the other two beers, but I need to be pragmatic. Not like I can
pick this kind of beers on the street.

Test
is really blinded. All beers were cooled down to 14O Celsius and
poured in glasses by my wife.

Let’s
go

Visuals:

All
three candidates are amber brown, #3 being a tad darker than the rest. #1 and
#3 still try to for something like a head, #2 looks flat. There are no CO2
bubbles in none of the beers. In fact, I haven’t expected a lot.

#2
very strong alcohol aroma burning the nose, there are some leftovers of hop
resin and malt, but in that case alcohol takes the most.

#3
balance of alcohol and fruity marmalade, caramel, pineapple. Alcohol is clear,
but does not burn the nose like #2. Pleasant.

Taste:

#1
Peach and tropical fruits, caramel and bread. Bit sweet with a resin finish. Clear
hop bitterness in the taste. Finish is bitter and a bit alcohol. Beer is full-bodied,
sticky on the tongue but acceptable.

#2
As already suggested by the aroma, something went wrong here. Heavy alcohol is
hard to beat. Some little notes of sweet malt and bread. Very thick on the
tongue, no carbonation. Interestingly this one is very, very bitter. To tell
you the truth – it is the only thing I like about it.

#3
Very well balanced tropical fruits, marmalade sweetness, floral aromas and
alcohol. Bitter. Body is thick but not sticky, some carbonation is left. Overall
looks like it is very balanced and alcohol is complemented by other assets.

Summary
1:

Before
seeing the bottles

#1
is probably the Lodołamacz (Polish word for Icebreaker). Mostly because of
clearly different alc. Content than #2 and #3. If I am right this also proves
what I have said before – the process is the key, and the longer you distill,
the more you may lose. #1 that one is more on the beer side, whereas #2 and 3
are on the side of degustation alcohols already.

#2
and #3. I hated #2 for its heavy alcohol, #3 for me is excellent drink. Heavy
but perfectly balanced. Unless Het Uiltje screwed this lot, #2 is Brewdog and
#3 is Het Uiltje.

Summary
2:

100%
match.

Comment
– I am not saying who is the winner. I am saying who is the looser. In that
case it is Brewdog. 1% alcohol difference between Hop Shot and Old Enough to
Drink does not explain why Brewdog’s beer is so heavy of alcohol and simply
distasteful.

Old
Enough to Drink proves once again to be a world class beer. Heavy in alcohol,
but still beer. Excellent.

Lodołamacz
is simply very good beer. However, to compare it to Old Enough to Drink it would
require additional double concentration.

Final
notes on the bottles and availability.

Lodołamacz
is impossible to get. You need to know people, who know people and a lot of
begging is included (many thanks to www.ebrowarium.pl).
This has a lot of to do with the costs of production and the policy of the
brewery who likes to produce an exclusive beer from time to time.

Brewdog
was (and still may be) available in many beer shops and Brewdog’s brewbars all
around the Europe.

Het
Uiltje was freely available over the internet and in various shops in Europe.
Even in Poland.

Kudos
goes to Het Uiltje, for making an excellent beer, and making it AVAILABLE to
literally everybody who wants to try it. Everybody else – look and learn.

Now
the bottle – here the situation is different. Brewdog sells the beer is shot,
150 ml bottles. Size fits the taste. Anyway, I couldn’t swallow more of this
thing.

Het
Uiltje, sells their beer in a classical bottle, with cartoon label. Nothing
here suggests exclusivity. That’s a pity, because I would like to keep some of
this beers for presents and they just lack the appearance.

Lodołamacz
looks like the exclusive beer. Look at the label. It is not paper, it is fabric.
Picture and letters are embroidered with a silver thread. Now this is something
I could give to somebody.

--

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Mittwoch, 14. Februar 2018

Lithuanian
craft beer weekend in Brussels: 26 beers on Tap

February
9-11, 2018

Dynamo
– Bar de Soif, Brussels

This
was very difficult weekend for me as a beer lover. Not so often I have to
choose between 3 events in the same evening. But a possibility of trying a
craft beer from Lithuania was the most interesting one. First, because I have
never had a Lithuanian craft beer before. Second, because just few days ago a
colleague of mine (@gobeertrippin) have recommended Lithuanian IPA on a DM group.

For
the introduction – event was organized by the Lithuanian community in Brussels.
Based on what I have found there are currently around 3000 Lithuanians living in
Belgium (half in Brussels). Interestingly, the story of the Lithuanian craft
beer is very similar to Polish one. Both countries have a history of brewing.
In both countries vodka was more prevalent in the communist times and bot lands
have a gradual turn in the direction of beer. Good beer.

A place to beer was Dynamo bar, that is a place to craft beer in Saint-Gilles. They
have already hosted Estonian and Scottish craft beer events and are constantly
providing a solid selection of beers on tap and in bottles.

Sakiškių
alus (sakuskiualus.lt) @sakiskiugerimai

Braworas Apynys (apynysbrewing.lt)
@braworasapynys

Kuro aparatūra (facebook.com/kabrews)

If you consider 26 beers to try,
you can imagine that the fact of not having a degustation size was really
annoying. I could test only limited number of beers.

On plus was the price. 4.5/quite
exotic beer is very fair.

On top, Lithuanian snacks, nice
people and full house.

Now, it is beer time

Sakiškių alus Bloody Mary Gose

For what it was supposed to be it
was disappointing. Delicately smoked gose with medium carbonation and light
body. I don’t know where the Bloody Mary part went.

Kuro Aparatura Ovejenias

Caribbean Dubbel

Hazy brown with small head.
Delicate aroma of Belgian yeast and malt. Taste is very classical malty dubbel,
bit creamy. Not bad, but rather average. Two people tried and non-have realized
why this is called Caribbean. There is no hint on any exotic addition in it.

Sakiškių alus – Gin Tonic IPA

This was for me the best beer of
the evening. Amazing combination of gin tonic aroma with juniper bitterness.
Taste is spicy, orange and juniper. Overall effect like unique and deserves
appraisal. Don’t mind people giving it low rating on Ratebeer. This is awesome
beer. Kudos to the brewer.

Apynys – Mango Milkshake IPA

Milkshake IPA of
world class. Aromas of exotic fruits, mostly pineapple and grapefruit. Pine on top. Delicate carbonation and amazing
smoothness. Flavor is milky, exotic fruits and delicate bitterness. Not getting more bitter during drinking. Drinkable to the limit. Great beer.

Dundulis – Juodaragis

Gruit ale

I have a very direct comparison
with Belgian interpretation of gruit (https://beerlander.blogspot.com/2018/02/the-place-and-beer-9-gentse-gruut.html). And I like Lithuanian version more. Rich,
thick dark ale. Must have something to do with kvass or bread addition. Taste
is heavily herbal, bitter in aftertaste. Very original and very interesting.

Dundulis – Devyniaragis

Braggot

First non-polish braggot I have
ever tried. Lithuanian interpretation is clearly on the “dry” side. Bit
peppery, very dry honey, more in aroma than in taste. Almost not sweet at all.
Nice malt finish and average carbonation. On plus side it is great balanced -
9% of alcohol are not detectable at all.

Taken together - great evening in a good company!

Finally - question to any Lithuanian that reads this - where in Brussels I can get some of this beers? Maybe more (Green monster IPA?)

Donnerstag, 8. Februar 2018

Not
sure if you are aware but hops were not the only herbal addition given to
beers. And I don’t mean current craft bee move, that make brewers to add every
piece of flower/vegetable they can find on the local market.

And
the name was Gruit/Gruyt/Gruut – depending on the region. The term was used on
the territories of current Belgium, Netherlands and some parts of Germany and
described herbal mixture used for spicing and bittering.

Before
it was known as Gruut, the herbal-beer-addon exists under the name materia cervisiae. The name pops up first
in Germany. Kaiser Otto II granted the rights to sell Gruut to the Church of Liège in
the year 974. The name Gruut was first noted in the year 999, same Kaiser have
granted similar rights to the church in Utrecht. Even if hops were making its
way through the brewing scene of the middle age Europe, Gruut was popular in
some regions till XIII century. There were monopolists selling and producing
Gruut and they were less than happy to see hops coming. Also, past brewers had
to pay taxes based on the content of Gruut in the beer (today it is based on
alcohol content). Thus, many local governments that got good money from Gruut
were not happy. This led to some trade wars and sometimes almost anecdotal
situations

One
of such stories is the story of Gent in Belgium. The city is divided by the
river Leie in two parts, at some point of the history the right bank was ruled
by Flemish and the left bank by French-speaking communities. Flemish brew with
hops, whereas French brewed with Gruut. Full exclusivity apparently. At the
end, hops became prevalent in the brewing, mostly because of their
antibacterial and preserving abilities (and they were cheaper), but even today,
the only brewery still using Gruut indicates on its labels: “brewed on the left
side”.

Back
to the Gruut – it is difficult to say what was exactly inside – based on the
historical records people tend to believe that it was based on sweet gale,
mugwort, yarrow and ground ivy. With a possible addition of spices including
juniper or ginger (see Wikipedia for a complete list of possibilities). Very
likely, there were multiple combinations and addition possible. What also is
clear that each brew master would have its own secret recipe.

Now
let’s go back to the left side of Gent and the one and only Gentse Gruut
Stadtsbrouverij. Brewery doing beer only with Gruut. I went there last weekend,
during Lichtfestival Gents just to see what does the Gruut-beer taste like.
There was too late for the brewery tour, but I may be back in summer. Still
some photos of the taproom and tanks.

At the moment, they sell 5 beers on the regular basis. I have managed to taste the blonde and two were the take home message from this trip.

Honestly
– blonde was my first choice to taste. As stated here many times – blondes are
almost as low aromatic as lagers. When usually it is a problem – this time it
is an advantage. In blonde, you have a chance to get all the aroma of Gruut. And
I was not disappointed – bit sweet, with a note of nutmeg, very herbal, but not
in a citrus hop way, rather like one of your herbal teas. Bit in the direction
of nettle. On top some herbal bitterness and not too heavy yeast. Very positive
and a must try for every beer lover.

Montag, 5. Februar 2018

Because,
I have made the Tour at the end of 2016 and never had a chance to write this
post.

Still,
this was bugging me, therefore here we go.

I
was always jealous about Rattshern. Living for 16 years in Germany, I have spent
my life in the areas on middle/middle south Germany who didn’t give a damn about
the craft revolution. Trust me, even in 2015 the area north of Frankfurt was
craft beer desert. Still today, Frankfurt am Main, the financial center and one
of the biggest cities in Germany hosts the amazing number of 2 crafts breweries
(all local craft beer lovers, please accept my condolences).

And
then, all the time, I have heard about the Ratsherrn brewery from Hamburg. They
produce Pale Ales, Porters and everything. God, I was so jealous. Especially,
because they were no accessible in the area.

It is
a paradox, that I have first managed to get to Hamburg when in living Belgium.
Still a brewery visit was a must. I have booked a tour containing brewery and
tasting at the end.

Here
some facts:

Brewery
is in Sternschanze district of Hamburg. Close enough to get there from city center.
Close to the S-bahn station.

Rattshern
use to be a traditional local Pils that went down. Current brewery kept the
name but represents rather modern style brewing. In its current form, Rattshern runs since
2012. Head brewer is Thomas Kunst and Ian Pyle is responsible for special
brews.

They
brew craft beer for broader publicity. At the moment of my tour their “hardest”
beer was about 80 IBU (West Coast IPA?).

Tour
itself is great, the guide not only shows the brewery, but he will also show
all steps of beer brewing. Bonus for me: a chance to briefly talk with Ian who
was just working in the brewery at the same time

The
girl running the brewery tour was amazing. Very talkative, interactive and
professional. I rarely have seen so enthusiastic tour guide in my life.

Beer
tasting great addition. We have got a movie presenting history of the brewery
and then were guided through several beers from various styles. There was
enough time for trying, making up your mind and talking to other people.

After so long time, it is difficult to write about beer. One thing
is clear – I wasn’t disappointed. Still, I have decided to present two
allrounders from Ratsherrn – worth drinking if you have a chance.

BALTIC
PORTER

Simple,
drinkable example of the style. Dark brown, tan head. Aromas of roasted malt
and tiny leftovers of yeast. Flavor of coffee and malts. Clean, tasty and worth
giving anybody. Especially dedicated to people who want to start tasting beers,
but don’t want to be scared by a double-barrel-aged-triple-hoppled-imperial-porter
(or so).

PALE
ALE

Classical
beer from Ratsherrn follows the same rule. Aromatic, fruity, hoppy. More bitter
than your regular Pils, but not bitter enough to scare the masses. Perfect
entry beer, but good enough to satisfy most of the geeks.

Summarizing - great tour with good beer. Worth attending if you make it to Hamburg.

Donnerstag, 1. Februar 2018

Aaah, the friendly Beer-Market from La Louvière, after a
while I feel like home here. And, to my positive surprise, even the local community
started to accept Polish guy who haven’t yet learned a proper French.

Not to forget another important new thing – the owner
David is now concentrated on the second shop in Namur, and he have hired a new
professional – Lise – to run the shop in La Louviere.

Imagine a beer-geek Belgian girl, who speaks English.
Bingo.

The idea of the evening degustation is very simple.
Varying number of beers, tasted blindly and a local community happily
commenting and exchanging experience. 2-3 hours of nicely spend time.

Today’s subject – New Beers. Not only Belgian, but in
general. And, again, David and Lise have prepared an interesting selection.

My fist contact with the Italian brewery.
This beer was so heavy loaded with raspberries that my garden was jealous.
Small white head was gone almost instantly, carbonation almost not existing.
This time it is a plus, because the beer is sour, not only Berliner sour, but
also fruit, raspberry sour with some lemon notes on top. Very refreshing, even
if a bit one sided.

Now that one is something all Belgian beer lovers
should start looking for. New brewers brewing with the use of Alsace hops.
Windy is brewed with Mistral and is strictly amazing. OK, honestly, this pale ale can stand any. And I mean like ANY competition I have ever tested, no
matter USA or Europe, this is like world class. I never thought that European
hops can give so many grassy and fruity aromas. In fact if you would tell me that were american hops I would believe. Awesome. Light
body, decent bitterness, perfectly carbonated. This is amazing pale ale. World class. Best new beer I have tried that evening.

Solid IPA. Golden orange, medium head. Weak
hop aroma, citrus, pine. Some malts and fruits and decent carbonation. It’s a
bit too much caramel and toffee for me, but I cannot deny that I have liked
this one.

Something went a tad wrong
here, especially with the classification. Even if the hazy look suggests that
its New England, the aromas are West Coast – heavy pine, marmalade, berries,
caramel and grapefruit. Small bitter notes and a hell of a citrus in taste. Now
one point – this is a great beer. Just call it IPA.

OK. This beer was surprise. Another sour beer
of the evening, this time less acidic than the first attempt. However, not matter
how I have tried, I was not able to guess the fruit. Most of you probably know
this Multifruit juices from the supermarkets. You know its juice, but will
never find out more. Same effect here. Later, we have learned that its black
currant and rhubarb. OK, tried again. I couldn’t say. I think that something
went wrong here and both aromas somehow countered each other. Overall effect is
faceless and not satisfactory.

If I understood everything correctly, this
beer was an accident. Another proof for a beauty of craft. Big company would
pour it to the sink. Craft brewery put it in the barrels and made barrel aged
sour ale. The result is sour, oaky aromatic and tasty. Wooden notes mixed with
tanic bitterness. It is not the best beer I have ever had, but it is at least
worth trying.

Let’s put it like that – wouldn’t I see a label saying that its imperial
IPA, I would probably never classify it as one. Neither I would classify it as
a good beer. Its average. Average body, average carbonation. Average aromas of
not defined hops and malt. Kind of brown beer taste, bit malty. Since
everything is average, you could think that the beer is well balanced.

Nope.

That one is just average. You see, it was so average that I have
forgotten to take a photo.

I have said this over and over again. This is the most innovative
Belgian beer since the Duvel. And the best one. However, it is interesting to
see how this is not everybody’s case. Looks like in any testing population 50%
of people love it. Rest hates it. Very polarizing this one. OK, I love it
still.